The "cca"

I am (I have come to believe) a glamorous  industrialist trapped in a somewhat anonymous teacher / social worker's body.  Picture Gianni Agnnelli a little more unkempt and not as glamorous, wealthy, handsome or charismatic. But that does not mean I don't have dreams ; )

A perusal of Chrono24 will reveal a plethora of very expensive watches that do indeed offer the functions one would look for in perpetual and/or annual calendars, but the dials are so cluttered, and "blessed" with micro-sized indicators and teeny-weeny printing that you need to use your iPhone's camera with zoom to actually read your wonderful watch with all of the great features. And did I mention that they were really, really expensive?

Enter the calendario cent’anni, “cca” -

Courtesy of ochs und junior

Having a watch with great complications is, well, great! But it's no good if you can't read them. The designer of the ochs und junior calendario cent'anni, "cca" seems to have climbed into my brain and created the watch that I had always wanted - I just didn't know it yet. 

As mentioned at the top, I would like to think that I am far more dashing and cosmopolitan than I probably am. But one point I am unwilling to bend on is that I will not praise a watch as awesome if I can't even read it. And in that vein, it is as if ochs und junior had listened to every frustration I have ever experienced in trying to discern the actual functions of my "multifunction" watches and created something that would give me the watch that I always wanted. I mean really, what a nutty idea, a 100 year calendar watch that you can actually read! 

But apart from the simply functionality, I particularly love this white dial version not only for its readability, but for the wonderful contrast and interplay of the dial (white) indices (black) and indicators (mostly orange). It is beautiful in its simplicity. And as a reminder, simple is the opposite of dumb. Simple is genius, and simple is beautiful.

And while I realize that the cca is not an insignificant purchase, keep in mind that where we are now, is not where we will always be. I have that on very good authority from the current Secretary General of the United Nations -

Henki (much younger and thinner) teaching his class and the Prime Minister of Portugal - António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres in Vila do Conde, Portugal in 1995

Needless to say, we were both younger and more handsome back then ; )

Now I'm not saying my "dream watch" should be yours - a watch is a very, very personal thing. But what I am suggesting is that it's okay to dream about things, and to imagine what might be one day. I never would have thought a Northern Youth like myself would see the sun rise over Tokyo Bay, or glimpse the the midnight sun in Finland.  And I certainly never expected that the future Secretary General of the United Nations would walk into my classroom with his security detail (and me without a valid work permit), but it just goes to show that anything is possible.

It has been a long, long winter.  We are nearly out of the woods, and to quote one of my favorite professors from the University of Oregon - "we've been there and back."  But what I have come to believe more and more these past few weeks, is that anything is possible, good can overcome bad, and that you should always be open to dreaming - even if that dream is for a material item ; )

I wish you all a safe journey to the end of this particularly dark time, I wish Secretary Guterres 

God's Speed as he and his team work to hold us together and save us from ourselves.

I know that these are challenging and serious times, but take some time out to dream, to imagine, and you know what - it's okay, take time to enjoy your watches.

Maybe You Can Go Home Again - The Continuing Evolution of ochs und junior

So right off the bat, I need to stress that this is an opinion piece. And as I have been informed more than once - "Opinions are like backsides, everyone's got one, and some truly stink."

Having said that, I got a chance to read a piece that was forwarded to me from Watch Around, a Swiss based watch magazine. In it, Kornelia Imesch shares a lot of the answers to what many of us who write about these things have been wondering - what has been happening, and what's next? In the article, Ms Imesch clearly outlines what could be viewed as the 3 phases of ochs und junior -

The foundation period - this involving Ludwig Oechslin, BeatWeinmann and Kurt König (the owner of Embassy, the Lucerne based jewelry store that Beat Weinmann was working for at the time). The latter part of this period is when I discovered ochs und junior, and curious to relate? It was due to an article in... Watch Around! At that time there were, essentially 2 ochs und junior watches.

The Growth Period - this was when Ulysse Nardin was brought in as a partner (and I will presume, funder), Embassy let ochs und junior go, and to a certain extent Beat Weinmann was fully in charge to run the day to day.

The NOW Period - and this is what answered a big question for me, who owns it? Well, that would be Kornelia Imesch, a certain legend in watch making that you may have heard of - Ludwig Oechslin, and family. Yes, that last word you have correctly, 2 of the "juniors" have decided to join the now fully family owned ochs und junior.

Now I will be the first to say that I have found the communication coming out of ochs und junior for the past 5 years more than a little bit baffling. But I also think, in fairness, that the past 3 years in particular were probably a key time where the past, present and future were in some ways colliding. 

ochs und junior surely did inspire a lot of passion from collectors (they wanted to own one), journalists (it was a fun story) and retailers (they were desperate to sell it). But passion alone does not a watch brand make. And that is I think the piece that a lot of my erstwhile colleagues in the Fourth and Fifth Estate have lost touch with, because what was actually stirring that passion was amazing products. And the other thing that they have lost track of is that at the heart of ochs und junior are the ideas that come to life in the watches. Those ideas, curious to relate, are STILL embodied in the watches being produced by ochs und junior because (spoiler alert), Ludwig Oechslin is STILL bringing those ideas to life.

To that end, two "newish" models have been released that actually harken back to the foundation of ochs und junior all those years ago. The Settimana which we covered here -

http://www.tempusfugit.watch/2021/01/the-settimana-limited.html

And something really special, the calendario cent’anni, or “cca” -

Courtesy of ochs und junior

It is available in 3 different dial versions - 2 in black (above and below) -

Courtesy of ochs und junior

And white -

Courtesy of ochs und junior

In their own words, here is a basic primer from ochs und junior -

100-year calendar designed by Ludwig Oechslin | dial with indication of hours, minutes and seconds in addition to correct date (28, 29, 30 or 31 days), month, leap or non-leap year | Arabic character or indices with hour/minute hands with Swiss Super-LumiNova® coating | 40mm grade 5 titanium case |  Ulysse Nardin UN-320 | Available in 3 versions

This is currently a preorder item.

Now for all of those lamenting the change in staff, and the change in location, I get it. Change is hard, it's scary and it is something that most of us tend to avoid with as much energy as possible. But then again, change is necessary and inevitable. Full credit to everyone who played a part in the creation, birth and growth of ochs und junior. But truth be told, the future has yet to be written, and I for one am curious to see what ochs und junior has in store. They say you can't go home again, but then again, maybe you can.